User blog:GlitterInformer/Doki Doki! Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Doki Doki SDC: Episode 10 (Sub), 8 (Dub)
Episode 9 (Sub), 7 (Dub) | Table of Contents | Episode 11 (Sub), 9 (Dub) Japanese title: "The Transfer Student's a National Super Idol!!" English title: "Superstar Classmate" DD10 cover.png The episode starts with Rikka/Rachel’s frog-shaped alarm clock going off. In the sub, the frog says, “kerokero” over and over because that’s the Japanese onomatopoeia for the noises a frog makes. In the dub, it just makes the standard alarm clock screech. The alarm isn’t for waking up Rikka/Rachel, who is already awake and in her school uniform. Instead, it’s for Raquel/Rory, who is being woken up by her. For some reason, Rory says, “Rise, yes; shine, no,” when Rachel tells him to wake up. Anyway, as the two eat breakfast together, Rikka/Rachel wonders if Mana/Maya has woken up yet. Rikka says that Mana was up late last night doing paperwork for the student council; Rachel says that Maya needs to be up early for a student council meeting. When Rikka/Rachel says they should meet up with Mana/Maya to make sure she’s ready for the day, Raquel/Rory notes that she worries about her a lot. In the sub, Raquel says Rikka is like Mana’s wife, Rikka asks if he knows what “wife” means, and Raquel is confused. In the dub, Rory says Rachel is like Maya’s mother, Rachel says that she isn’t, and Rory says that Maya’s lucky to have her. I hope this edit isn’t trying to censor homosexuality or anything. There isn’t much to censor, though… Well, censorship or not, the editing continues. When the two are walking to school, Rikka/Rachel tells Mana/Maya what Raquel/Rory said. Mana/Maya agrees with Raquel/Rory, much to Rikka/Rachel’s surprise. She says that a wife/mom is always by your side, just like Rikka/Rachel. Yeah, this might just be censorship. It’s a shame because 1) homosexuality never hurt anybody, so trying to stop it is a jerk move and 2) this wouldn’t be the first time homosexuality is censored in the Glitter Force franchise. It happened in the first Glitter Force, too. In the original Japanese version, one of the female characters was very clearly infatuated by another female character. This was mostly cut in the dub. I’m not too worried, though; I hear there’s another moment with homosexual subtext that is kept in the dub. We’re just going to have to wait and see if this rumor is true. At school, Mana/Maya and Rikka/Rachel’s homeroom teacher tells the class that there will be a transfer student today. If you’ve read the titles for this episode, it should be no surprise to you that this new student is Makoto/Mackenzie. Naturally, everybody freaks out upon having a nationwide celebrity as a classmate. In the sub, everyone shouts, “Ehhh!? Mako-pi!?”; in the dub, they all say different things at different times. We get the opening themes. And… wait, what?? There’s still a preview for Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage 2?? I thought it would be over by now. Usually, these previews go from episode 6 to episode 9. Well, time for more screencaps… DD10 01 movie 1.png|Cure Black from Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart DD10 02 movie 2.png|Cure White from Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart DD10 03 movie 3.png|Cure Marine and Cure Blossom from Heartcatch Pretty Cure! DD10 04 movie 4.png|Cure Marine shows off one of her trademark faces. DD10 05 movie 5.png|Cure White, Shiny Luminous, and Cure Black from Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart DD10 06 movie 6.png|Cure Bloom and Cure Egret from Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star DD10 07 movie 7.png|A crowd of fairies runs away as some Pretty Cures charge forward. DD10 08 movie 8.png|Cure Mint, Cure Rouge, Cure Dream, Cure Lemonade, Cure Aqua, and Milky Rose from Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo! DD10 09 movie 9.png|Cure Passion from Fresh Pretty Cure! speaks to Candy from Smile Pretty Cure!, as well as the movie-only fairies EnEn and Gureru. DD10 10 movie 10.png|Cure Beat from Suite Pretty Cure♪ speaks to Candy, EnEn, and Gureru. DD10 11 movie 11.png|Gureru and EnEn watch as Cure Passion and Cure Beat leave. DD10 12 movie 12.png|Cure Beauty from Smile Pretty Cure! and Cure Diamond charge into battle. DD10 13 movie 13.png|Cure Sword charges forward as Cure Peace from Smile Pretty Cure! watches. DD10 14 movie 14.png|Cure Sunny from Smile Pretty Cure! DD10 15 movie 15.png|Cure March from Smile Pretty Cure! DD10 16 movie 16.png|Cure Rosetta DD10 17 movie 17.png|Cure Heart stands with Cure Happy from Smile Pretty Cure! As usual, the dub contains no footage from the movie. The sub gives the title card. Then, we return to school. A huge crowd of student is looking through the classroom at Makoto/Mackenzie. Mana/Maya and Rikka/Rachel ask why Makoto/Mackenzie transferred to their school. Makoto says that she needs to know more about Earth because it will help her find her princess; Mackenzie says that she needs to know more about Earth if she’s going to be staying there. Dabi/Davi, who is sitting on Makoto/Mackenzie’s lap, says that the real reason Makoto/Mackenzie transferred is because she wanted to spend more time with the others. Makoto/Mackenzie becomes embarrassed and hides Dabi/Davi under the desk. Mana/Maya shakes Makoto/Mackenzie’s hand and formally welcomes her to the school. This attracts a huge crowd. In the sub, one of the boys is amazed that Mana knows Makoto; in the dub, he’s amazed that Maya has the nerve to go talk to Mackenzie. Mana/Maya and Rikka/Rachel belatedly realize that everyone is staring. In the sub, Mana wonders how long they’ve been staring and Rikka says that idols must have it rough; in the dub, Maya asks if there’s something on her face and Rachel says that they’re staring at Mackenzie, not her. Makoto/Mackenzie then flashes a charming smile, making the crowd of classmates go crazy. Mana says that a reaction is typical for an idol, while Maya is shocked that they all fanboyed and fangirled over a simple smile. Rikka/Rachel remarks that it must be tough for Makoto/Mackenzie to put a smile on for her fans all the time. Dabi says that only Mana, Rikka, and Arisu can make Makoto smile like that; Davi says that Mackenzie’s comfortable with them because they’re the only ones who treat her like a normal girl. Dabi/Davi asks the two to take good care of Makoto/Mackenzie. Then, Makoto/Mackenzie shoves Dabi/Davi under the desk and says that her going to their school is nothing personal. The sub cuts directly to the girls’ next class. For no discernable reason, the dub instead fades to black and then to an exterior shot of the school before cutting to the interior of the class. Here’s the added shot: DD10 20 added school.png|Teacher: "Okay..." The class is taking a test. The teacher reminds everybody to write their name on it. Makoto/Mackenzie does so with an autograph, and Rikka/Rachel takes notice. The test page is edited in the dub. DD10 21 japanese test.png|Test Name *illegible* ♡ DD10 22 english test.png|M ♡ Rikka/Rachel tells Makoto/Mackenzie to just write her name normally, but Makoto/Mackenzie doesn’t know how. This turns out to be the least of her problems, though. In art class, Makoto/Mackenzie pours way too much paint onto the canvas. In home-ec, she manages to stitch everything together into a huge mess. Then, the kids clean up their classroom with mops. Although cleaning is part of what students do at Japanese schools, this is weird in the dub because American students don’t have to clean their classrooms. That job is left to hired adult custodians. But the scene goes on anyway. In the sub, two of the boys remark that Makoto looks cute even while cleaning and a girl says that she hopes that Makoto sings because she’s holding her mop like a microphone. In the dub, the class thinks for some reason that because Mackenzie has a mop, she’s going to dance. Makoto/Mackenzie then tries to impress everybody. She does an impromptu dance number using the mop as a prop. Unfortunately, she accidentally knocks a bucket of water over with the mop. One of the boys is impressed with her cleaning accident and Rikka/Rachel is confused by his reaction. Makoto/Mackenzie tries to clean it up. She lifts her hand and makes an elaborate gesture. In the dub, dialogue is added where one of the boys thinks she’s going to dance again. When nothing happens, Makoto/Mackenzie is confused. She says that in the Trump Kingdom/Splendorius, the gesture would summon somebody to clean the mess (in the dub, it’s specifically a crew of pixies). Rikka/Rachel takes care of it for her by mopping up the spilled water. The school day ends, and Rikka/Rachel exhaustedly packs her things. Mana/Maya goes up to her and says that if the two of them help Makoto/Mackenzie out, she’ll be fitting in just like normal. Then, the three girls walk home. As they do, the dub adds another shot of the school. It’s the same as last time: DD10 20 added school.png|Mackenzie: "Did I stick out too much?" Maya: "Oh, no! Not at all!" In the sub, the girls walk out of school in silence; in the dub, Mackenzie asks if she stuck out too much and Maya reassures her that she didn’t. Then, the trio is surprised to be greeted by a group of men clad in purple and black. In the sub, these men congratulate Makoto for her hard work; in the dub, they say that they’re awaiting Mackenzie’s orders. Dabi says that these men are Makoto’s cheerleaders; Davi says that they’re super-fans of Mackenzie who act like they’re her bodyguards. Davi’s explanation makes much more sense. Makoto/Mackenzie smiles, sending most of the bodyguards into a frenzy. One of the men, who seems to be the leader of this strange club, scolds them for interfering with Makoto/Mackenzie’s private life. As punishment, he makes the group recite their 130 rules. In the sub, their first three rules are to protect Makoto’s private life, to never steal her spotlight, and to never betray their comrades. In the dub, the first rule is that Mackenzie’s privacy is their first priority, the second rule is unintelligible because Maya and Rachel speak over it, and the third rule is to never pester Mackenzie for autographs. Mana/Maya and Rikka/Rachel are shocked at how weird this group of cheerleaders/super-fans is. Then, everyone is interrupted by a crew of photographers. Dabi says that they’re entertainment reporters, while Davi just says they’re photographers. Makoto/Mackenzie tells Mana/Maya and Rikka/Rachel to go on without her so they don’t get burdened by the paparazzi. Mana/Maya is upset about not being able to walk home with her friend, so Rikka/Rachel decides to confront the paparazzi. She tells them that they shouldn’t be on school property without the school’s permission and that right now, Makoto/Mackenzie is a student, not an idol. Additionally, Rikka says that photo shoots of students make bad publicity for the school, while Rachel says they’re supposed to sign in at the principal’s office. The leader of the cheerleader men joins Rikka/Rachel and berates the photographers for interfering in Makoto/Mackenzie’s private life. As the groups argue with each other, Rikka/Rachel tells Mana/Maya and Makoto/Mackenzie to take the opportunity to escape. They do so. As Rikka/Rachel watches and smiles, mental dialogue is added in the dub where Rachel is happy that they got away. Eventually, Mana/Maya and Makoto/Mackenzie find a place where they can be alone. Sharuru/Kippie says that Rikka/Rachel is very reliable and clever and Mana/Maya agrees that she’s a great friend. Makoto/Mackenzie says that it must be nice to have a friend like Rikka/Rachel. Mana says that Rikka isn’t just her friend, but her BFF; Maya says that Rachel isn’t just her friend, but Mackenzie’s friend as well. Makoto/Mackenzie is silent for a bit and Mana/Maya asks what’s wrong. Dabi says that Makoto is jealous of Mana; Davi says that Mackenzie was hoping that Maya would ask her what’s wrong. Makoto/Mackenzie gets jealous. In the sub, Sharuru and Mana say that Makoto is cute when she’s “being honest”; in the dub, Kippie says that Mackenzie is shy about her true feelings and Maya is excited to have made a pop star shy. Meanwhile, Rikka/Rachel is walking home by herself. To her surprise, a familiar pink car pulls up next to her. The window opens to reveal Arisu/Clara, who asks if Rikka/Rachel wants to ride with her. A car scene ensues, but oddly, it isn’t flipped in the dub. I guess Clara has a car from abroad; Japan isn’t the only country where people drive on the left side of the road. In the car, Arisu/Clara says that she already heard about Makoto/Mackenzie transferring and she’s worried about her acclimating to the environment. However, both she and Rikka/Rachel are happy about Makoto/Mackenzie getting to be with her friends. Arisu/Clara then suggests that they go to Mana/Maya’s house. Rikka/Rachel agrees because she wants to know whether she and Makoto/Mackenzie got out without difficulty. The two arrive at Mana/Maya’s house. Rikka/Rachel is surprised to see that Makoto/Mackenzie is at the house, too. Mana/Maya is excited to tell them that since Makoto/Mackenzie has a day off tonight (in the dub, because her rehearsal was cancelled), Makoto/Mackenzie is staying over for the night. She wants Rikka/Rachel and Arisu/Clara to stay over, too, but both are busy. Mana/Maya is disappointed because she wanted them all to do their homework together like when Rikka/Rachel usually stays over. Raquel/Rory and Sharuru/Kippie say that when that happens, Rikka/Rachel does everything for Mana/Maya and essentially babysits her. Then, the team notices that Makoto/Mackenzie has already fallen asleep. Dabi/Davi says that Makoto/Mackenzie was working late last night and Rikka/Rachel adds that getting all sorts of attention at school must have also been tiring. Mana/Maya puts a blanket over Makoto/Mackenzie and lets her sleep until dinner. That evening, Rikka/Rachel and Arisu/Clara set out. Arisu/Clara tries to cheer Rikka/Rachel up by saying that they can all sleep over next time. Still, when the car leaves the neighborhood, Lance notes that Rikka/Rachel still seems upset. Arisu/Clara says that people just feel down sometimes. In the sub, Lance asks what Arisu means and Arisu says that it’s like a heartache and that it’s complicated; in the dub, Lance asks if the bad feeling is like a tummy ache and Clara says that it’s like a cloud temporarily passing over one’s heart, but it’ll eventually disappear and the sun will shine again. That night, Rikka/Rachel eats dinner with her mother. In the dub, Rachel made the dinner. Rikka/Rachel’s mother says that she’s happy to be able to chat with her daughter at dinner after a hard day of work. Her mother then asks what happened at school. Rikka/Rachel says that it was the same as usual, but her mother doesn’t believe her. Rikka/Rachel then tells her that there was a new transfer student and that she’s staying over at Mana/Maya’s place and probably having a lot of fun. Rikka/Rachel then panics upon having accidentally implied that she wants to have dinner with Mana/Maya instead of her own mother. Even though her mother seems content as she says that she could tell something was up, Rikka/Rachel is still sad and ashamed. That night, Rikka/Rachel and Raquel/Rory are in the same bed. Raquel/Rory notices that Rikka/Rachel is having trouble sleeping and asks what’s going on. Rikka admits to Raquel that she’s jealous of how much fun Mana and Makoto are having together, while Rachel lies that she’s worried that Maya and Mackenzie will stay up all night and not get enough sleep. The sub shows the eyecatches. Then, we cut to the villains’ lair, where Ira is angrily failing at bowling like usual. The dialogue is different in the sub than in the dub. In the sub, Ira is angry about the ball not going to where he tells it. Marmo says that he shouldn’t act like a child, but Bel says that his childish desire of wanting everything to go his way is a fundamental emotion. Marmo continues to make fun of Ira for being a “big baby”, but Ira is actually cheerful. He notices that Bel’s outfit is torn up and that he has bandages on his face, so Ira makes fun of Bel’s bandages. In the dub, Ira is angry that things never go his way. Marmo says that if they did, it would spoil his perfect record of losing. Bel says that if Ira were a true warrior, he would learn from his mistakes. Marmo notices his torn-up clothes and face, so she teases Bel for having experienced such mistakes himself lately. Ira joins in on the fun, making Bel angry. The next day, Rikka/Rachel’s alarm clock rings again. This time, Rikka/Rachel is still in bed with Raquel/Rory, and when she turns off the alarm, she curls up under the blankets because she wants to sleep a few more minutes. We then get an external shot of Rikka/Rachel’s window as she sleeps. In the sub, it’s silent; in the dub, Rachel’s alarm clock rings again. Rikka/Rachel panics because she slept late and rushes out the door to meet Mana/Maya. On the way out, her mom tells her that Mana/Maya called earlier and is on her way to school with Makoto/Mackenzie. Rikka/Rachel runs to catch them. In the dub, dialogue is added where Rachel thinks that she might be able to catch up to Maya and Mackenzie if they went the usual route. Then, Raquel/Rory spots the two girls up ahead. They’re hanging out with Ai/Dina and Joe/Johnny. Mana/Maya gives a milk bottle to Makoto/Mackenzie so she can use it to feed Ai/Dina. Makoto/Mackenzie is nervous, but she successfully feeds the baby without hassle. Mana tells Ai that she’s her mommy and that Makoto is her daddy; Maya tells Dina that she’s being fed by a pop star. We get more possible homosexuality censorship. In the sub, Joe says that Mana and Makoto really are like a mommy and daddy, and Arisu, who has suddenly arrived, compares the two to newlyweds. In the dub, Johnny just says that Maya, Mackenzie, and Dina look adorable together and Clara asks why Rachel is hiding in the bushes. Arisu/Clara says that rather than watching them, she and Rikka/Rachel should join Mana/Maya and Makoto/Mackenzie. Rikka/Rachel can’t bring herself to join, though. She stops and muses that she’s having a horrible feeling in her heart. Rikka echoes Arisu by saying her heart is aching; Rachel echoes Clara by saying it’s like a cloud is covering her heart. Rikka/Rachel’s thoughts are interrupted when the leader of Makoto/Mackenzie’s strange fanclub shouts that he’s jealous. As Rikka/Rachel explains to Arisu/Clara who he is, the man shouts that he’s jealous of Mana/Maya for getting to be so close to Makoto/Mackenzie. This jealousy causes a dark spot in his Psyche to expand, and Marmo notices. Then, the man realizes that he shouldn’t barge into Makoto/Mackenzie’s life or else he’ll become one of the rabid fans whom he swore to protect Makoto/Mackenzie against. This causes the darkness in his Psyche to recede. When Arisu/Clara asks if the man is okay, he runs away and scolds himself for breaking the 130 rules. It’s too late for him, though. Marmo extracts his Psyche and transforms it into a strange Jikochuu/Distain with a heart-shaped head. All four girls notice the Jikochuu/Distain. By the time Arisu/Clara and Rikka/Rachel arrive, the Jikochuu/Distain is cheering for Makoto/Mackenzie and saying that he’s the only one who deserves to be in her presence. Raquel/Rory remarks that the Jikochuu/Distain is filled to the brim with jealousy. This makes Rikka/Rachel realize that she, too, is jealous. She admits to being envious of how well Mana/Maya and Makoto/Mackenzie get along. Arisu/Clara cheers her up by telling her that everybody feels jealousy because they’re only human. Even Arisu/Clara herself gets jealous. Arisu says that although jealousy is normal, abusing others’ jealousy to create monsters is unforgivable. Clara instead says that the difference between Rachel and the Distain is that Rachel doesn’t let her jealousy control her and turn her into a monster. Arisu/Clara’s words make Rikka/Rachel feel much better. She calls Raquel/Rory to her side, and with his help, she transforms. Oddly, Arisu/Clara doesn’t join her; only she transforms. After transforming, Diamond scolds the Jikochuu/Distain for wanting to keep Makoto/Mackenzie all to itself. Although she doesn’t say her catchphrase and make the diamond sign with her hands (a big shame), she does perform Twinkle Diamond, freezing the Jikochuu/Distain’s shoes to the ground. This is darkened. DD10 23 jikochuu shoes.png DD10 24 distain shoes.png Marmo appears by the Jikochuu/Distain’s side and tells it to use its burning love for Makoto/Mackenzie to melt the ice. It proceeds to use one of the fans that it’s holding to slowly melt it. As this is happening, Mana/Maya and Makoto/Mackenzie arrive, so they and Arisu/Clara transform as well. To save time, their transformations are combined together rather than being shown in full. Oddly, during the dub’s group transformation sequence, Maya says, “Glitter Cuffs!” not when her armbands appear, but when Glitter Clover’s bow appears. Together, the four warriors shout their group catchphrase. Then, Heart does her usual speech to the Jikochuu/Distain. Sword/Spade calmly tells the Jikochuu/Distain that although Makoto/Mackenzie likes the fact that it loves her, its jealousy is getting out of control. While Cure Sword doesn’t make an attempt to hide that she’s Makoto, Glitter Spade refers to Mackenzie as a separate person, hiding her true identity. The Jikochuu/Distain is not happy to hear Sword/Spade talk to it that way. It gets angry because it believes that Sword/Spade is getting between it and Makoto/Mackenzie, so it breaks out of the ice and shoots a red, heart-shaped beam at Sword/Spade. Sword/Spade uses Holy Sword/Sparkle Flash to split the beam in two. Next, Rosetta/Clover uses Rosetta Wall/Shield of Clover to keep the beams from hitting the others. Then, Diamond uses Twinkle Diamond once again to freeze the beams. Finally, Heart purifies the Jikochuu/Distain using My Sweet Heart/Let Your Heart Light Shine. You know, I’ve been wondering why Heart has always been the one to finish of the Jikochuu/Distains when Diamond and Sword/Spade have shown themselves perfectly capable of doing so themselves. This episode wasn’t even about her; it would have been far more fitting for Diamond or Sword/Spade to have landed the final blow instead. When you combine this with Heart always being the one to give the opening catchphrase, I’m starting to see why the fanbase thinks that Heart hogs the spotlight. It isn’t too bad, though; the other warriors have important roles to play in the fight. Well, except Sword/Spade. Was there any purpose to splitting the beam in two? The super-fan man regains his Psyche and Marmo teleports away. With the fight over, Sword/Spade compliments Heart and Diamond’s teamwork and admits that she’s jealous of how well they fit together. Rosetta/Clover admits to having felt the same way before she got to know Heart and Diamond better. Diamond is surprised that she’s not the only one who feels jealous and is comforted to know that everyone feels the same way. She tells Rosetta/Clover and Sword/Spade not to worry because all four of them are friends now. Heart agrees. The last scene of the episode takes place after the girls have turned back to normal. Mana/Maya invites the other three over for a sleepover during the weekend. Rikka/Rachel and Arisu/Clara agree. Dabi/Davi says that Makoto/Mackenzie is very excited to join in, causing Makoto/Mackenzie to scold her once again. Then, everyone laughs. The very last shot of the episode, a shot of Rikka laughing, is removed. DD10 25 cut rikka.png|Rikka: *laughs* Overall: I wasn’t expecting this episode to focus on Rikka/Rachel as well as Makoto/Mackenzie, but I like that it did. I feel that lately, Pretty Cure generally either focuses on one character or the entire group, so it’s nice to see an episode once in a while of two of the characters bonding. Despite the focus on Rikka/Rachel and Makoto/Mackenzie, all of the characters got time to shine and had an essential place in the story. I really wish modern Pretty Cure episodes could do that more consistently. Additionally, I liked the focus on the characters having selfish thoughts. It’s not often that jealousy is discussed, so it’s nice to see. It’s especially important since being jealous when your friend gets a new friend is something that everyone feels. It’s important for kids to be taught how to handle their jealousy. It’s also nice to see the dub being faithful to the original since it doesn’t have to combine episodes. The main problem I had with the dub today was the voice acting. Most of it was pretty good, but most of the characters had moments where their acting sounded stilted. And of course, there’s the possible homophobia. Let’s hope that there are no more signs of that. Speaking of flaws, I do wish that we’d found out more about Makoto/Makcenzie’s culture from her mishaps at school. The whole montage of Makoto/Mackenzie in school was supposed to show how unaccustomed she was to Earth culture, but the only thing that really showed that was her making the gesture to summon janitors. In fact, the only mess-up of hers that was a big deal was an epic failure in home-ec. Everyone fails at art, somebody’s gotta knock over the water bucket sometime, and nobody cares if you write your name strangely on a test as long as it’s legible. That being said, I do feel the montage did a good job of showing what it would be like to have a celebrity as a classmate. Next episode: Mana/Maya helps the softball team when one of their players gets injured! Category:Blog posts